Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said he is "absolutely confident" that he has the "confidence of the vast majority" of his Fine Gael parliamentary party and that he "has done for the past six years".
He said: "The next election is ages away and I believe it's an election in which Fine Gael can gain votes and gain seats, and if we do that we may well be in a position to form another government."
The Taoiseach was commenting to the media after a series of anonymous briefings to Sunday newspapers about his leadership.
Speaking in Dublin Castle, he said "my focus is on building more houses; in helping middle Ireland with the cost of living; it's on standing up for farmers in rural Ireland; it's building safer stronger communities, and all the things that we're committed to as a Government.
Mr Varadkar rejected claims of "aimless drift" in Fine Gael under his leadership.
He said the party has achieved "so much" during his six years as leader: "We have full employment for only the second time in the history of the State.
"We've a budget surplus; we've high life-expectancy because of the improvements in our health service and the health outcomes notwithstanding the problems there.
"We've the best levels of education on attainment that we've seen in a long time; childcare costs have fallen by 25%; we are respected around the world; Irish people in key European positions...and I don't think most of my colleagues have any doubts about how much has been achieved by my party in Government in the past six years under my leadership."
